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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - LONDON — Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be willing to "give up" his presidency in exchange for peace ahead of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"If to achieve peace you really need me to give up my post – I'm ready. I can trade it for Nato membership, if there are such conditions," the Ukrainian president said in response to a question during a news conference.
His comments came after US President Donald Trump called Zelensky a "dictator without elections" earlier in the week.
"I wasn't offended, but a dictator would be," Zelensky, who was democratically elected in May 2019, responded on Sunday.
"I am focused on Ukraine's security today, not in 20 years, I am not going to be in power for decades," he added.
According to Ukrainian law, elections are suspended under martial law, which has been in place since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelensky is meeting Western leaders on Monday, some in person in Kyiv and some online, as they work out how to provide a post-war security where the US will not.
He said the topic of Ukraine joining Nato would be "on the table" at the meeting but he did not know how the discussions would "finish". He hoped the meeting would be a "turning point".
On the topic of Trump, Zelensky said that he wanted to see the US president as a partner to Ukraine and more than a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.
"I really want it to be more than just mediation...that's not enough," he said.
With the White House demanding that it gets access to billions of dollars' worth of Ukraine's natural minerals in exchange for the military aid it provided to date – and could in the future – Zelensky said US help so far had been agreed as grants, not loans.
He said he would not agree to a security deal which – in his words – would be "paid off by generation after generation".
When asked about a potential mineral deal, Zelensky said "we are making progress," adding that Ukrainian and US officials had been in touch.
"We are ready to share," the Ukrainian leader said, but made clear that Washington first needed to ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin "ends this war".
Zelensky appeared relaxed as he faced questions from the world's media. In previous years he had been more impassioned and even emotional, but on Sunday his approach was business-like.
If Ukraine's leader rejects a Donald Trump-shaped peace proposal he does not agree with – as he suggested today – then it could have lasting consequences for the course of this war.
Reuters Image shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking at a press conference after the 'Ukraine. Year 2025' forum, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, on 23 February, 2025Reuters
Zelensky's comments came hours after Russia launched its largest single drone attack on Ukraine yet, Ukrainian officials said.
On Saturday night, Ukraine's Air Force Command spokesman Yuriy Ignat said a "record" 267 Russian drones were launched in a single, coordinated attack on the country.
Thirteen regions were targeted and while many of the drones were repelled, those that were not caused destruction to infrastructure and at least three casualties, emergency services said.
Ukraine's Air Force reported that 138 of the drones were shot down and 119, which were decoy drones, were lost without negative consequences, likely due to jamming.
In Kyiv, the attack meant six hours of air alerts.
In a statement, Zelensky thanked Ukraine's emergency services for their response and called for the support of Europe and US in facilitating "a lasting and just peace".
In a post on X, Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska said that "hundreds of drones" had "brought death and destruction" overnight.
"It was another night of explosions, burning houses and cars, and destroyed infrastructure," she wrote. "Another night when people prayed for their loved ones to survive".
On Monday, the war will enter its fourth year.
Diplomatic wrangling over a potential peace deal continues, with Ukraine, European allies and the US offering differing visions for how to end the conflict.
The US and Russia held preliminary talks in Saudi Arabia this week – without delegates from Europe, including Ukraine, present – which resulted in European leaders holding a hastily arranged summit in Paris.
Zelensky criticized Ukraine's exclusion from the US-Russia talks, saying Trump was "living in a disinformation space" governed by Moscow, prompting Trump to respond by calling the Ukrainian president a "dictator".
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit Washington on Monday, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be there on Thursday.
Sir Keir has publicly backed Zelensky, reiterating the UK's "ironclad support" for Kyiv, and said he would discuss the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty when he speaks to Trump.
Pope Francis – who is in hospital with respiratory illness – wrote in remarks released on Sunday that the third anniversary of the war was "a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity". — BBC
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